Recently, I’ve noticed a trend with some of my clients. They are seeking accountability and collaborative working sessions in order to push themselves further. They see this form of sought-out accountability as a strength—not as a weakness, or a failure on their part.
They’ve broken up with the thoughts of “I should be able to do this on my own” and instead have fallen in love with “I get so much more done when I have accountability built into achieving my goals.”
They recognize that doing the work with someone else instills a sense of accountability which is often followed by the feeling of accomplishment.
They use accountability as a pathway to the exhilarating feeling of accomplishing their goals.
I was thinking about this on my walk this morning. Yesterday, I waited to walk until after a day jammed full of meetings. I made a commitment in The 365 Project to exceed my 2020 steps every single day this year, and therefore it is non-negotiable that I do this before I go to bed each night.
But yesterday morning, my feelings won out and I deferred my walk until the end of my workday. And it wasn’t really the end if I’m being honest… I still had 60 emails in my inbox that I needed to respond to.
I did a small loop with my husband and the dogs and then told him I was going to do another loop on my own so I could get my steps in. Halfway through the second loop, I got caught in a torrential downpour.
I was as wet as if I had stood under the full force of the shower for five minutes by the time I got home. Heavy soaking wet jeans, my blouse stuck to me like glue, makeup was running down my face, and my hair was a wet sopping mess.
All I could do was laugh.
You see, I had looked at the weather app that morning and saw that it was supposed to rain in the afternoon, but I let my feelings win out. And my regular walking buddy, my dear accountability partner Rita, who always pushes me to walk further, and to get started by 7:15 in the morning has gone back home for the Christmas holidays.
If Rita had been here, I would have walked in the morning, and I likely would have walked 30% further than I walked even this morning. Instead, I delayed and deferred and the results were pretty funny.
Rita pushes me to walk more. Rita makes me feel guilty when I walk too slow. Rita is always in for the extra loop.
When it comes to walking, I seek out our walks every morning because I know the accountability pushes me further.
So my question for you as we finish up this year is this: what do you need to seek out accountability for? Where do you need collaboration to bring out the best in you? How will you stop buying into thoughts that you should be able to do this alone?
